Should Seattle City Elections Be Publicly Funded?

The Seattle City Council is thinking about developing a publicly-funded approach to campaign finance. The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission would develop a detailed plan and voters would decide whether to approve it later this year. The idea to use public money to fund city campaigns is meant to open up the political arena to candidates who might not otherwise run for office. On Thursday, city councilmembers will meet with representatives from Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles to see how publicly funded campaigns have played out in their cities.

City Councilmember Mike O’Brian is one of the main supporters of the proposal, and Dr. Costas Panagopoulos is a political science professor of Fordham University in New York. Ross talks to both of them and takes listener calls.